The deadmau5 DJ Mag Top 100 story of 2026 lasted about as long as it took him to open Instagram. Hours after the magazine counted down this year’s poll on October 6, the Canadian producer reposted DJ Mag’s own countdown graphic to his feed with a message that left nothing open to interpretation.
He had been placed at No. 91. He did not want the spot.
Lead image: deadmau5 performing at Veld Music Festival in Toronto in 2016. Photo: Visualbass Photography, CC BY-SA 2.0
What deadmau5 said about the DJ Mag Top 100
The post was a straight repost of the DJ Mag countdown story, with deadmau5 typing over the top of it:
TAKE ME OUT OF THIS CLOWNSHOW ALREADY. Give 92-100 my spot. Congrats 92-100. Yall moved up a spot, and 101… well grats too YA MADE IT!
It picked up around 3,000 likes and more than 260 comments in its first three hours. deadmau5 then went into his own comment section and kept going, adding a line that has since become the most liked reply on the post:
Actually on hindsight… it’s not bad being the 91st least effective clown out of 100 fucken clowns.
When a fellow artist dropped in to congratulate him on the achievement, his reply ran to two words. The thread filled up with the usual split, half of it agreeing that the poll measures marketing budgets rather than DJing, half of it telling him that 91 was generous.
Where deadmau5 landed in the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs 2026
The number itself is the part that gives the outburst its edge. deadmau5 finished the 2026 poll at No. 91, down nine places on the 82 he held in 2025. In 2024 he was at 67. Three polls, three drops, and the gap between his standing in the public vote and his standing in the studio has only widened.
DJ Mag’s own write up for the entry is, for what it is worth, warm. It credits him for building shows around technology rather than around tracklists, points to the past twelve months of headline dates at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado, in Las Vegas and at the Nashville Superspeedway, and notes that his long awaited new studio album has been teased with the singles ‘Ameonna’ and ‘Science’, the latter a ten minute collaboration with Stevie Appleton.
None of which changes his position on the list itself. deadmau5 has spent most of his career arguing that a public vote ranking DJs by popularity tells you almost nothing about DJing, and the 2026 edition gave him a fresh excuse to say it in capital letters.
David Guetta’s record sixth win led the 2026 poll
At the other end of the list, David Guetta was named World’s No. 1 DJ for a record sixth time, making him the most successful artist in the history of the poll. Guetta called the sixth win “pretty serious” and said he was “very honoured”, and used the moment to point out that DJs are now filling stadiums that were once reserved for the biggest pop and rock acts.
The rest of the 2026 top end moved in ways that track with where club music has been heading. Anyma climbed seven places to No. 3. Charlotte de Witte took No. 6 and was again voted World’s No. 1 Techno DJ. Fred again.. jumped 17 spots to No. 16. British house DJ Josh Baker was the Highest New Entry at No. 40, while John Summit, Mau P and Chris Stassy shared the Highest Climber title, each moving up 22 places.
In total the 2026 list carried 13 new entries and three re entries, drawn from what DJ Mag described as a record number of verified votes cast across 234 territories. Indira Paganotto won the inaugural World’s No. 1 Psy DJ award, FISHER took House, Armin van Buuren took Trance, Sara Landry took Hard, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike took DJ Group, Anastazja was named Future Star and Luciano received the Outstanding Contribution award. The poll’s partnership with Bridges for Music has now raised £120,000, funding places for 120 students.
An old argument that refuses to die
deadmau5 is not the first artist to swing at the poll and he will not be the last. The list is a public vote, which means it rewards reach, fan campaigns and release cycles as much as anything that happens in a booth, and that tension has followed it for the better part of two decades. Every October it produces a round of the same conversation, usually started by someone who placed lower than they expected.
What makes this one land is the gap between the two positions. DJ Mag writes about his Red Rocks run and his unreleased album. deadmau5 looks at the same page and sees a ranking he wants his name removed from. Both things can be true, and the comment section under his post suggests a decent chunk of the audience agrees with him.
It is also a reminder that the dance music world has no shortage of artists willing to say the quiet part out loud. Sven Väth spent part of last season taking aim at Argy in almost identical language, and Mau P spent weeks answering ghost producer claims in public rather than letting them sit. The Top 100 is simply the one argument that comes back on a schedule.
DJ Mag has not responded to the request. deadmau5, for now, remains at No. 91.
